Page 17 of The Curse of Blood and Silenc

For now.

The darkness still churned beneath my skin, patient.

Waiting.

I released Enzo abruptly, and he gasped, coughing and sputtering, looking shocked. I’d never attacked him before.

Never.

This obsession with Serenity could bring me down. I knew it with the same certainty that I knew my own name. The realization hit like acid in my veins. If I didn’t wrestle this beast back into its cage, I’d not only burn New Orleans to ash, I’d tear apart the only family I had left. The family she’d helped me build.

I stumbled away from Elena, fighting for air. The rage was a living thing inside me now, clawing at my ribcage, demandingblood. Each breath felt like swallowing glass as I tried to force it back.

My gaze found Enzo over my shoulder. He stood there, fingers gingerly touching the angry red marks blooming across his throat; marks I’d put there. Guilt twisted in my gut to see them.

“Set up a meeting at Bourbon Street Burgers.” My voice was sandpaper rough. The Santi family’s burger joint—our territory, our rules.

Enzo shook his head, still massaging his throat. “Trystan won’t go for that, boss. It needs to be somewhere neutral, where you’ll be on equal footing.” His eyes held mine steadily. Still looking out for my best interests, even after I’d nearly killed him.

I gritted my teeth tight. This wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted the advantage, wanted to corner that bastard like the rabid dog he was on Santi territory. But Enzo’s logic cut through my bloodlust like a knife through fog. I dragged trembling fingers through my hair, pulling some strands loose. “Fine. Call Keir.”

Keir Rankin, the Unseelie king, was the only one of us with ice in his veins instead of fire. While Trystan and I were creatures of impulse and violence, always one heartbeat away from carnage, Keir remained a glacier of calm in even the bloodiest storms.

I bolted for the door, my control fraying with each passing second. The people I loved were too close to danger, and the monster inside me was too hungry for violence to tell friend from foe.

“I won’t be able to set it up until tomorrow or tomorrow night,” Enzo murmured quietly, cautiously, like he was talking to a wild animal. Maybe he was.

“Just set it up.” Using my vampire speed, I shot down the hallway, the world blurring around me. My hand found a bottle of wine at the bar—not nearly strong enough to dull the painand quiet the screaming in my head, but it would have to do. Anything to soften the razor edges of grief that threatened to slice me to ribbons from the inside out.

Chapter

Nine

Serenity

The limousinefinally pulled to a stop. Balthazar’s hand wound around my waist as the doors opened, drawing me close like I was already his prize. The leather scent of the limo gave way to crisp night air. All I could think of was Angelo. Balthazar could force my body to his side, but he’d never own my heart the way Angelo did.

Gage came up next to me. “One word and you’re dead, bitch.” His voice stole my breath.

I concentrated on the smells around me, desperate for any clue as to my location:

Bubbling water with a faint sulfuric odor—perhaps a hot spring or a swamp?

Damp earth and decaying leaves, hinting at a forested area.

A whiff of smoke, from a distant campfire or chimney.

The unmistakable scent of moss and algae, strong and earthy.

A trace of something floral—magnolias? Their sweet perfume was barely noticeable under the stronger scents.

Musky animal odor—wild, not domesticated. Wolves?

Balthazar’s expensive cologne, mixed with sweat now.

And Gage’s aftershave; cheaper, sharper, with an undertone of gun oil.

All the scents seeping through the burlap sack told a story. I focused on each one, trying to build a picture in my mind of where I was, where we might be going. If only I could see, touch, or hear more clearly. But with my other senses diminished, these fragments of smell were my only connection to the world—my only hope of escape.

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